BI tracing OFWs evading 2-week quarantine

The Bureau of Immigration has been tapped to help identify returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are hiding their identities in order to avoid the mandatory 14-day quarantine period.

In a statement, the BI said its officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) were directed by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases to assist in identifying returning OFWs who should be subjected to mass testing for the coronavirus disease 2019 and undergo the mandatory quarantine.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said the IATF requires all arriving workers to undergo mass rapid testing at the airport before they are brought to a designated facility for quarantine.

However, they have been receiving reports that some of these passengers do not admit or declare that they are OFWs to avoid being quarantined.

“If they misdeclare their status during the health screening, Immigration officers would still be able to detect it,” said Morente.

BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said that they would be able to determine who among the arriving passengers are returning OFWs, by conducting thorough inspection of their passports and checking their visa.

BI port operations division chief Grifton Medina said there is already a one-stop shop for arriving OFWs at the NAIA.

Immigration officers would conduct redundancy check for arriving Filipinos to verify if OFWs have been seen and inspected by the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) after disembarking from the aircraft.

“Passengers who do not have the quarantine registration form showing that he or she has been tested for COVID-19 symptoms by BOQ personnel after disembarking from the aircraft shall be referred back to the BOQ,” he added.

Once they have been processed by Immigration, the OFWs would be escorted by the appropriate government agency to buses that would bring them to their designated quarantine facility.

Medina disclosed that as of Sunday, some 50 special flights carrying OFWs, mostly seafarers, have arrived since the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) took effect.

The bulk of the passengers were repatriated from Italy, Spain and the United States.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has increased the security at hotels housing newly arrived OFWs after learning that some of the workers try to sneak out while still undergoing the 14-day quarantine.

PCG spokesperson Commodore Armand Balilo yesterday said that they have been providing security to hotels in Metro Manila and Batangas that serve as quarantine areas for OFWs undergoing the mandatory quarantine.

But they have increased the number of deployed Coast Guard personnel to the quarantine areas, to augment the employees of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), after learning that some of the OFWs wanted to leave the premises.

“There have been reports that some OFWs make up excuses that they will just buy something from a nearby convenience store or meet up with relatives who are waiting for them outside of the hotel, just to get out. But this is not allowed,” said Balilo.

Those who are able to escape from their 14-day confinement, if they are captured would have to start again their 14-day quarantine.

“They would go back to ‘zero’, instead of graduating from their quarantine. Instead of nearing the completion of their quarantine, they would have to start all over again,” Balilo said.

Meanwhile, Balilo said that there are close to 2,000 Filipino seafarers working in cruise ships that are waiting to disembark from eight cruise ships seeking clearance from the BOQ and Department of Health.

The eight cruise ships – from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore – are in the country to drop off their Filipino staff. There were no passengers on board their ships.

Once they get clearance from the BOQ, the Filipino seafarers would be brought to their designated hotels where they will undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine.

An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) yesterday said that they have been assisting OFWs who have been affected by COVID-19.

CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People (ECMI) vice chairman Bataan Bishop Ruperto Santos issued the statement amid reports that 230,000 OFWs have been affected by the virus.

With many OFWs out of employment, Santos said they would ask diocese-run schools if they could initially shoulder the cost of education of the children of the displaced workers.

He also said he was informed by CBCP executive secretary Father Resty Ogsimer that there is referral on their behalf from Caritas Manila and cash vouchers of P1,000 each with bags of groceries are being distributed to them.

Philippine Airlines is preparing more special flights to ferry stranded Filipinos abroad back to Manila.

PAL said it is set to fly to Darwin, Melbourne, Sydney and London in the coming days “to carry our stranded countrymen home.”

The airline said Milan, Italy is also an upcoming pick-up point for stranded OFWs even though it is not on PAL’s regular destination roster. PAL last Saturday flew to Maldives for the first time to pick up stranded Filipinos.

Maldives is not in PAL’s regular destination list.

The flag carrier has also flown to Manila OFWs based in Vancouver, Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne, Maldives and Kuala Lumpur in recent weeks.

Aside from these special flights, PAL also continues to serve the nation amid the lockdown by transporting essential goods and medical supplies

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